Sacramento State men’s soccer team (2-5-2) opens up Big West Conference play at home against UC Riverside on Thursday, Oct. 2.

During their non- conference schedule, the Hornets fared well against a couple of strong opponents beating San Jose State and Cleveland State, then tying 78th ranked University of San Diego.

The Hornets are currently ranked 175th in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Continental Tire Poll.

Sac State men’s soccer will have an opportunity to up its place in the standings if they can beat some of its talented conference foes.

The Big West is known as one of the most competitive conferences in college soccer. That presumption can be proven by its 24- 19-13 record against non- conference opponents this season.

Sac State coach, Michael Linenberger, believes that the Big West’s competition is worthy of national recognition.

“The Big West is a top-5 power conference for men’s soccer,” Linenberger said. “We need to finish in the top 6 out of 8 teams to qualify for the postseason tournament. The competition is fierce.”

With three teams in the top 35, the Hornets realize that their non-conference schedule was just a warmup for the gauntlet they have to face during conference play.

The Hornets leading goalscorer Chimdum Mez knows that his team must be mentally prepared to face

any challenge for the rest of the season.

“Every single game is going to be a battle,” Mez said. “We have to make sure we come out mentally ready for every game if we want to give ourselves a good chance of making a run in the Big West. We don’t have the best preseason record, but starting Thursday we start off with a clean slate and just have to come ready to play.”

Hornets sophomore defender Javier Munoz believes that preparation is the key to winning in the Big West.

“Well, the Big West is one of the best conferences in the nation,” Munoz said. “So, we have to be prepared for every game because we all know that every game is going to be difficult from here on out.”

The conference is made up of two divisions; the north including Sac State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. The south consists of UC Irvine, CSU Northridge, UC Riverside and CSU Fullerton.

In the preseason coaches poll, no. 32-ranked UC Santa Barbara was voted most likely to win the north division. Following the Gauchos’ predicted ranking is UC Davis as second, Cal Poly to finish third and Sac State predicted as the last.

In the south division, the Big West coaches voted for CSU Northridge to win the division over UC Irvine, who is ranked second in the nation. CSUN is currently the no. 31-ranked team in the country with a 4-4-1 record. UC Riverside is projected to finish third and Cal State Fullerton to finish last.

Sac State’s lack of healthy bodies, not focus, will be the

deciding factor for the team’s success in the Big West. In the team’s game against CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 28, the Hornets only had 13 healthy players for the match.

If the team can get back key players from injury like senior defender Mason McCann and junior forward Brad Kellogg they will have a more favorable chance to compete for the conference title.

The Hornets biggest test of the season comes on Oct. 11 when they go on the road to face powerhouse UC Irvine.

UCI was one of the preseason favorites to win the Big West Conference after accumulating a 8-0-1 record and being ranked behind the nation’s leader Notre Dame.

The Anteaters started off their season on a fantastic note when they dismantled UC Berkeley 3-1 at home. Other notable victories for the Anteaters include wins over Clemson, West Virginia and UNVL. UCI’s only draw this season came against the 16th ranked Georgetown on the road.

Their final eight matches are pivotal for the men to advance to the postseason.